Drink, youth, drink, youth - spring of 1605 Francois Annibal d'Estrees, arrived at the monastic entry of the Carthusian charterhouse [3] outside of Paris holding the alchemical formula for the the 'elixir of life' otherwise known as the Philosopher's Stone.

Digestive:The Herbal Elixir gets its unique flavor from 130 medicinal and aromatic plants and flowers. It is a cordial, a liqueur and a very effective tonic. Ingredients : alcohol, sugar, plants and flowers.Alcohol content : 71% (142° proof US) Presentation : in a small bottle, itself placed in a wooden case which protects it from the light and makes sure it keeps perfectly. Use : a few drops on a lump of sugar, straight, or in a little sugared water, as an infusion.

Francois d'Estrees
Bishop and Soldier

Francois Annibal d'Estrees - brother of King Henri IV's mistress, Bishop of Noyon 1594 to 1596 - renounced the church to be a marshal for King Henri. Source of alchemy - UNKNOWN.........

Church was source of knowledge -

Arnaud de Villeneuve (1240-1311)
Famous physician, theologian and alchemist, he was the doctor of three popes and wrote subversive and esoteric theories. He was an ingenious scientist at the origin of the liqueur ("eau de vie" or "water of life"). He deposited the results of his research at the Chartreuse Monastery of Scala Dei (Spain) in 1305. Francois Hannibal d'Estrees gave to the Vauvert Chartreuse monks an already ancient manuscript titled "An Elixir of Long Life" - 1605

The Carthusian order was started in 1084 when St. Bruno of Cologne and six others withdrew into the French alps near Grenoble to find a place where they might serve God, remote from worldly affairs and without being burdensome to men. Bruno and his companions built their first church and residences in the Chartreuse mountain region. There the monks lived in small cells with two to a room that contained very poor furnishings. Their waking hours consisted of prayer, the labor of copying books and building their knowledge.

By 1600 the order had spread across Europe

"The Carthusians do not engage in work of a pastoral or missionary nature. Unlike most monasteries, they do not have retreatants and those who visit for a prolonged period are people who are contemplating entering the monastery. As far as possible, the monks have no contact with the outside world. Their contribution to the world is their life of prayer, which they undertake on behalf of the whole Church and the human race."

Chartreuse

The search for the Philosopher's stone was one of the most desired goals in medieval alchemy. Believed to rejuvenate the body to immortality, alchemists searched the world for this formula, something so elusive that they devoted lifetimes to their quest. For a long time, it was the most sought-after goal in Western alchemy. How Francois d'Estree stumbled into the formula is a mystery.

There are five variations:

1: Green Chartreuse 110 proof

2: Yellow Chartreuse 80 proof

3: Green Chartreuse VEP (Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolongé)

4: Yellow Chartreuse VEP (Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolongé)

5: Elixir Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse 142 proof

The elixir is not sold in America and is basically green in its original non-bottle strength form.